NEWSLETTER Friends of the Book of Deer Www.bookofdeer.co.uk Contacts: Area Office, Nethermuir Road, Maud, AB424ND.E-mail : [email protected] Cecilia Penny :01771-624459. Andrew Kellock: 01346-532309. Issue Number 13. June 2010 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS The Annual General Meetings of the Friends and the Project will take place on Saturday the 26th of June 2010 in the Stuartfield Village Hall. The doors will be open at 1 30 pm, when there will be light refreshments and the opportunity for a chat and browse through the information on what we’ve been up to this past year. Business will start at 2, fol- lowed as soon as possible by a talk by Alan Cameron on the “Book of Deer”, which will make us even more appreciative of this famous and important manuscript. Stuartfield is not far from Aden Park, on the B9030 which is off the A950 via Old Deer ; or the A948 turn- ing off at Auchnagatt. If anyone needs more details, phone Andrew or Bunty at the numbers above. ARCHAEOLOGY (The search for the Columban Monastery) Establishing the location of the Columban Monastery is an impor- tant element in the Project’s work. The second phase of the search was carried out on the 8th, 9th and 10th of June by members of the Glasgow University Archaeology Division, helped to a great extent by Derek Jennings. This involved examining the area of the churchyard and burial ground close to the Old Deer Parish church in a non intrusive way with ground penetrating radar (GPR) and a gradiometer, methods which can provide excellent resolution of many types of archaeological features. The recordings are now in the laboratory for interpretation and we should know the results in a short time. Seen here are Christine Rennie (field worker) and Olivia Lelong (Project Manager) of GUARD setting the baseline on the GPR equipment at the start of operations. Also important to the Project, is contact with the schools. So to complement the geophysical survey, Derek and Alison Cameron of Cameron Archaeology gave pupils from New Pitsligo, Stuartfield, Pitfour and Fetterangus schools a conducted tour of the old church and graveyard pointing out the interesting features such as the carvings with the coats of arms and the symbolism on the gravestones—skull and crossbones and gravediggers’ spades. The children watched the GPR taking place and Alison explained how the tech- nique worked and what we were hoping to find. They were then taken over to the Kemp Hall, where digging boxes had been prepared for them to excavate replicas of a medieval hearth and wall foun- dation. In the earth they were able to find pottery fragments, bones and daub—a mixture of clay, straw and animal manure. This gave them a real sense of the archaeologists life and an inkling of how unpleas- ant living in Medieval times might have been. For the last part of their visit, the children and teachers dressed up in medieval clothes and after making a vow of silence, viewed Derek’s informational film on the Book of Deer. Courtesy of Alison Cameron FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP. “Friends” and those wishing to become Friends can use this form to sign up, or if they prefer, do so at the AGM. “FRIENDS OF THE BOOK OF DEER” SUBSCRIPTIONS I enclose my subscription of £5 for May 2010 until May 2011 * Name (please print) .............................................................................................................................. Address ................................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................ Postcode ............................................. Phone no. ....................................................... E -mail ........................................................................ Signature ................................................................................................................................................ Remarks ................................................................................................................................................ .................................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................................... Please make cheques payable to “Friends of the Book of Deer” and send to Friends of the Book of Deer, Area Office, Nethermuir Road, Maud AB42 4ND or pay at any meeting of “Friends”. I am a UK taxpayer - Please reclaim Gift Aid on my donation SEMINARS Dr. Clare Downham giving her talk “ 18th Century Perceptions of Vikings in the North East of Scotland” in February. There was a particularly lively question and answer session after Clare’s talk. Alan Cameron took the opportunity to thank Clare for the work she did in organising the “Cultural Icons” Confer- ence last July and to wish her well in her new post in Liverpool. The “Friends” now look forward to next seasons’ Semi- nars, and arrangements are underway to have an authorative speaker on “Medieval Church Music.” In the meanwhile we would welcome comments and suggestion from any quarter. We also look forward to another of Sandy’s excellent con- certs in October PROJECT ROOM PILGRIMAGE A series of Special events has been organised for this summer. Posters have been put up in the Bu- chan area to publicise them. They will take place on Sunday between 2 and 4pm and are: MONKS AND THE USE OF QUILLS with Bill Johnson on the 2nd May; CALLIGRAPHY with Denis McHugh on the 20th June; A RANGER’S VIEW OF ADEN with Pam Ross This year we are walking in the Footsteps of St. Pe- on the 18th of July; ter from the links in Peterhead to Aden Park on the 19th of June. There may still be time for you to PLACE NAMES AND THE BOOK OF DEER consider joining in this most pleasant of events. with Mary Melville on the 25th July; MYSTERY OF THE MONASTERY with Derek WEBSITE. Jennings on the 22nd August and The viewing figures continue to rise—57,253, WOOD CARVINGS with Sandy Ritchie on the sessions for the 12 months ending mid April 5th September. 2010. Last year at this time it was 43,000. .